Traditional vs. Modern Architecture in China

1940 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Introduction on traditional architecture vs contemporary

Question:

Traditional culture in architecture is being eroded by modernity of the present architecture in China. Analyze the causes and effects of this problem and possible solutions.

In China, urbanization is at dramatic pace but in static patterns. This leads to the Chinese cities losing their own styles, and being built in the static architecture modes which are introduced from developed countries. Moreover, the traditional architecture cultures are being eroded by the static modern architecture patterns. Some of them are even on the boundary of extinction. Recently, architects in China have shown an increasing interest in the issue of traditional architecture in the modern era. This paper studies on the causes and effects of the erosion of the modernity to the traditional architecture and the possible solutions. It will be divided into three parts: the first part focuses on the causes and effects; the second part presents the combination of modern architecture and traditional culture; the third part concerns the cultivation enhancement of Chinese architects.

In the process of development of human society, architecture and culture are inseparable. Cuthbert (1985) indicates that architecture, with its unique art form, expresses the level of human culture in different historical stages, as well as the yearning towards the future. According to his article, it can be said that architecture has become one of the physical means for human to change the world and to conquer the nature. Consequently, architecture has been an important component of human civilization. Since 1980s when China started the opening and reforming policy, a variety of architectural ideas, schools and styles have sprung up. Accompanying with a momentum of...

... middle of paper ...

...mselves into the buildings to really experience the space, material, lighting and colors, and then cerebrate laboriously and practice repeatedly to find the answer.

In conclusion, traditional culture in architecture is being eroded by modernity of the present architecture in China. The combination of the tradition architecture and contemporary architecture can effectively release the conflicts between them, and this can be achieved by two approaches: one is the employment of the traditional symbols; the other is the application of the traditional materials in modern architecture. In addition, the Chinese architects should raise their personal cultivation to really understand the dramatic charm of Chinese traditional architecture. With these approaches, the conflicts between traditional architecture and contemporary architecture will be released to a real extent.

Show More
Related

  • Post Modern Architecture Essay

    2318 Words  | 5 Pages

    Abstract: New forms in current world have been testimony to the contemporary style of postmodern architecture and are the strength of today’s generation for creating significant architectural standards. Post modernism has blurred the borders between contemporary and traditional construction classical concepts and simply in the field of art and literature. The architectural elements like domes, arches, and classical shapes have lost their identity but the post modernism tries to bridge between these historical forms and contemporary styles. The related architects not only struggled to achieve the image for the buildings but also rejected oversimplified diagrams for living. The post modernism here tries to achieve theoretical base for their designs that creates the excitement in the design program.

    Read More

  • Essay On Leon Battista Alberti

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    Architecture is such a wide thing when we talk about buildings and projects. Architecture is defined as the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings. One of the Renaissance man who not only define...

    Read More

  • Frank Lloyd Wright

    1286 Words  | 3 Pages

    Architecture, the practice of building design and its resulting products, customary usage refers only to those designs and structures that are culturally significant. Today the architecture must satisfy its intended uses, must be technically sound, and must convey beautiful meaning. But the best buildings are often so well constructed that they outlast their original use. They then survive not only as beautiful objects, but as documents of history of cultures, achievements in architecture that testify to the nature of the society that produced them. These achievements are never wholly the work of individuals. Architecture is a social art, yet Frank Lloyd Wright single handily changed the history of architecture. How did Frank Lloyd Wright change architecture?

    Read More

  • Modern vs. Postmodern Architecture

    1622 Words  | 4 Pages

    The essence of modern architecture lays in a remarkable strives to reconcile the core principles of architectural design with rapid technological advancement and the modernization of society. However, it took “the form of numerous movements, schools of design, and architectural styles, some in tension with one another, and often equally defying such classification, to establish modernism as a distinctive architectural movement” (Robinson and Foell). Although, the narrower concept of modernism in architecture is broadly characterized by simplification of form and subtraction of ornament from the structure and theme of the building, meaning that the result of design should derive directly from its purpose; the visual expression of the structure, particularly the visual importance of the horizontal and vertical lines typical for the International Style modernism, the use of industrially-produced materials and adaptation of the machine aesthetic, as well as the truth to materials concept, meaning that the true nat...

    Read More

  • Architectures In Simon Unwin's Analysing Architecture?

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    To understand the role of place in architecture, the author compares architecture to language. Language has patterns and arrangements, architecture relates directly to what humans do. It changes or evolves as

    Read More

  • Traditional Building Materials in Contemporary Chinese Architecture

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    In traditional culture, Naxi people, who are the minorities live in the region, believe that mountains are the backbone of their culture, while water is the soul. The design honors this belief, the walls are built with stones from surrounding mountains and a reflecting pool is included in the community center courtyard. Li also believes that the design should be sustainable and respecting the nature. Therefore, he maximizes the use of local materials. Most of the local buildings are built with a type of clay-rich stone, known as “monkey-head” shown in Figure 4. Local villagers use it as an exterior walls. In Li’s design, he chose to use a white limestone, which is also abundant in local environment shown in Figure 5. The white limestone gives a different hue to the exterior walls and makes the building unique but also in harmony with the surrounding houses, which were built with “monkey-head”.

    Read More

  • HISTORY OF SINGAPORE’S MODERN ARCHITECTURE

    1982 Words  | 4 Pages

    Largest early influence to Singapore’s architecture comes definitely from the British. From 1826 to 1963 the country’s architecture had its roots deep in the Great Britain, because of the colonial rule that was introduced by Stamford Raffles who arrived to Singapore with Willi...

    Read More

  • The Development of Modern Architecture

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    In conclusion, although the development of modern architecture and the intervention of computer technology to advocate this development, the contemporary architectural outcomes have became more complex and complicated with potential formulation problems. As a result, the new architecture theories came to put boundary lines between being in the range of these problems and producing elegant modern built environment. The seduction of computer-produced form also enhances architects to involve in seeking for new theories to develop the discipline and work to combine formulization with materialization. Finally, some of these theories are accepted and some other still a controversial aspect in architecture.

    Read More

  • Greek Architecture Case Study

    1307 Words  | 3 Pages

    Study showcases that Architecture is described as an art representing a building structures, and can have both practical and symbolic purposes. It is, however, much more than just building or just art. Prior to this, the architecture of a high level of cultural and technological development speaks of its people and their history, giving special attention their values, and announces their largeness. A building whose architect was inspired by other cultures not only tells of its own high level of cultural and technological development, history, and character, but that of the other power of producing an effect on individuals as well. History is shared by their building erected in remembrance of a person or event through the ages,

    Read More

  • The Effects of Architecture on Society

    1911 Words  | 4 Pages

    Buildings reflect the values and ideas of society within periods. The role of architecture in shaping society and vice versa largely depends on the period in question and who or what affects first. The Enlightenment, and the subsequent period the Post-Enlightenment, reflect the biggest change for current ideas regarding architecture and society and current theories. At the same time, individual identities and understanding of society, progress and truth all follow a similar evolving path. It is during this dramatic shift in thinking that the role of architecture to society and the idea of progress and truth becomes a more complex relationship. How this relationship works and its implications is based on the theory that there is a direct link between the two. One cannot develop without the other. Who leads whom and to what extent they influence each other is evident in architectural trends and pioneering works by architects such as Robert Venturi, Frank Gehry amongst others.

    Read More

  • Village Settlement In Sri Lanka Essay

    2343 Words  | 5 Pages

    Previously going any further it is necessary to define the term traditional with reference to houses to its here thought of as a well as an architecture phenomenon. In this context it’s generally used with three distinct bit related meanings. First traditional houses form,

    Read More

  • Essay On National Culture In Malaysia

    2496 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...ntation of National Cultural Policy is somehow successful in achieving its objectives in strengthening social and national unity through culture and also nurturing a National Identity which stems from a National Culture. It might be seems unfair to the development of cultures of non-Malay cultures in the country at the first, but a country is necessary to have a nation culture and identity to be recognized and hold on to. The Prime Minister in 1978 introduced the slogan; ‘culture is the cornerstone of unity’ (Ibrahim Saad, 1983) very clearly informed that culture is an important element in achieving unity in a country. Therefore the application of nation culture characteristics in architecture will keep on reminding peoples on the objectives to achieve by the National Cultural Policy and will always keep us appreciating the unity of the country that not comes easy.

    Read More

  • Classical Architecture: The History Of Greek And Roman Architecture

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the time of the ancient Greeks all the way to modern day, some part of humanity has almost always been interested in the past. For the ancient Greeks, it was discovering Mycenaean ruins and composing stories about them. Today, inspiration is still drawn from classical architecture. One has to look no further than the U.S. capitol building, or even the University of Michigan's Angell Hall to see remnants of this architectural style. This raises the question of why does it still persists? Logically, the best way to answer this is to examine the origins of classical architecture, and what it represented then and now. Furthermore, the study of ancient architecture can show insights into past civilizations which otherwise would have been lost.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Charles Jencks The Language Of Post Modern Architecture

    2290 Words  | 5 Pages

    Charles Jencks in his book “The Language of Post-Modern Architecture “shows various similarities architecture shares with language, reflecting about the semiotic rules of architecture and wanting to communicate architecture to a broader public. The book differentiates post-modern architecture from architectural modernism in terms of cultural and architectural history by transferring the term post-modernism from the study of literature to architecture.

    Read More

  • Cultural Transformations Of Modern Architecture

    1692 Words  | 4 Pages

    What makes modern architecture? Before answering this, one would need to understand what the term “modern” exactly describes. In architecture, modernism is the movement or transition from one period to another, and it is caused by cultural, territorial, and technological changes happening in the world. In Kenneth Frampton’s Modern Architecture: A Critical History, he details these three major societal changes that impact and create modern architecture.

    Read More

More about Traditional vs. Modern Architecture in China

Open Document